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6th grade · Social Studies · Unit 6 of 9

Ancient India & China

Dynasties, beliefs and inventions

What your child practices

The Indus Valley and Yellow River, Chinese dynasties and the Mandate of Heaven, Confucius, Hinduism and Buddhism, and inventions such as paper and zero.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: History 1; History 2 · ancient India and China and the beliefs that began there

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The Harappan civilization grew along the Indus River; early Chinese dynasties along the Yellow River (Huang He).
  2. The Mandate of Heaven said Heaven gave a ruler the right to rule and could take it from a bad ruler.
  3. Emperor Ashoka turned to Buddhism and nonviolence after a bloody war.

Example: Along which river did the Harappan civilization grow? It is also called the Indus Valley civilization. The name gives away the river. Answer: the Indus

Ancient India & China in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 6 of 9 in 6th grade Social Studies, after Mesopotamia & Egypt and before Greece & Rome.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Maine Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Qin Shi Huang's tomb is guarded by thousands of…

    • Wooden ships
    • Clay soldiers (the Terracotta Army)
    • Gold statues of cats
    • Marble lions

  2. Question 2

    Who was the first emperor to unite China, in 221 BCE?

    • Hammurabi
    • Confucius
    • Julius Caesar
    • Qin Shi Huang

  3. Question 3

    Indian mathematicians developed which idea we still use?

    • Roman numerals
    • Cuneiform numbers
    • Tally marks
    • The number zero and the digits we write today

  4. Question 4

    The Mandate of Heaven was the Chinese idea that…

    • Rulers were elected
    • The emperor could never lose power
    • Heaven gave a ruler the right to rule, and could take it away from a bad ruler
    • Only farmers could rule

  5. Question 5

    Buddhism was founded in India by…

    • Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha
    • Ashoka's grandfather
    • Confucius
    • Moses

  6. Question 6

    Writing on oracle bones from the Shang dynasty shows that…

    • Romans visited China
    • China had no writing
    • Paper was used first
    • Chinese writing is very old

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